Stop Hunger Now

“You are what you eat,” as the saying goes. While we tend to use this phrase to consider healthy food choices, this saying has a more alarming implication:

If someone has nothing to eat, does that mean that person is nothing?

For someone who does not have access to daily meals, who cannot afford enough food, who does not have healthy food options within reach, the saying “you are what you eat” is demoralizing, disempowering and downright frightening. And I think those of us who do have plenty to eat should consider our response.

I believe strongly that there are two basic responses to hunger in our community and around the world. First, we have to respond to the immediate situation. That is, we should respond to the immediate need of hungry and starving people with charitable gifts. Second, we must ask root cause questions: Why are these people hungry?  And we have to dig deeply to get to the root cause answers.

This Saturday, we have an opportunity as a church family to work with Stop Hunger Now, an organization that is addressing hunger around the world through solutions that look at both the immediate needs and root causes.  Our church has used some missions monies to support this multi-church project, initiated by First Presbyterian.  We are helping to provide approximately 800 meals to families in need. In total, this local multi-church effort is providing about 37,000 meals.

On Saturday (April 1), folks from each church are gathering at First Presbyterian to help package the meals to be shipped around the world to individuals and families in need.  I encourage everyone in our church family to volunteer a few hours Saturday morning from 8:00 am-11:45 am to package some of these 37,000 meals. It will be a time of fun, fellowship and mission work. You can volunteer for part of this time or all of this time.  And everyone can help from ages 5 and up.  In fact, this is a great opportunity to bring children or grandchildren to engage in mission work!